Biggs
by randomfandoms
Summary: A series of one-shots centered around Biggs' brief stay with the Jam Pony gang and the transgenics at Terminal City. Some are set before his death, some after.
1. Always Alright

I've marked this story as "complete," but there will be more one-shots added on in the future. I just wanted to point that out to avoid any confusion. This part is purely stand-alone.

DADADADADADADADA

Max stood next to Alec, gazing through the flaming "X" at their fellow transgenic. Biggs was hung by his neck off the bridge , but it was obvious that he had been dead long before he had been hanged. His face was so bruised and bloodied that he was barely recognizable, and his arms hung at awkward angles, as if pulled from socket. She hadn't known the X5 well, but she couldn't help the tears that welled up in her eyes as she took in the scene.

Max turned away and brushed at her eyes in irritation. "Let's go, Alec. There's nothing we can do." She took a few steps before she realized he wasn't following her. She turned back around. "Alec...." The complaint died on her lips when she caught sight of his face. Alec was staring sightlessly at his friend, a dazed look on his face. He was fighting hard to keep his emotions in check, and he was obviously losing the battle.

Max approached him uncomfortably, unsure how to handle the situation. Alec was stubborn and prideful; she didn't know how he would react to her trying to comfort him. But she couldn't just leave him to deal with it on his own. Especially after he had reached out to her when she needed him. She cleared her throat as she stepped back to his side. Alec glanced at her, but quickly looked away. A tear snaked its way down his cheek, and Max was struck by how out of place it looked there. "Alec? You... alright?" she asked, floundering for words. This wasn't really her thing....

"Fine," he replied, his voice husky. He took a shuddering breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm fine...." Max thought it sounded like he was trying to make himself believe it, not her.

"Alec, I know he was your friend...."

"Don't, Max. Please. Let's just... get back to Terminal City." He turned and stalked away, and Max could see the tension in his shoulders. She followed silently, lost in her own thoughts. It wasn't until she heard Alec gasp for air that she realized he was shaking.

Max grabbed the man's arm and spun him toward her before he had a chance to react. "That's it. Alec, talk to me." He stared at the ground as more tears fell from his eyes. He was struggling to breathe evenly, biting his lip and sucking air desperately through his nose. "It's okay to be upset. Biggs was a friend."

Alec laughed humorlessly in reply, startling Max. He wiped his eyes and finally met her gaze. The intensity in his eyes unnerved her. "You always talk about your 'family' from Manticore, Max. Biggs was the closest thing I had to a brother. Hell, he _was_ my brother. As much as Zack and Ben were yours. It's not okay, Max. _I'm_ not okay. But talking isn't going to make it better. So just drop it."

Max stared at him for a moment, unsure of how to react. She had felt the same for a long time after escaping Manticore. It had taken nine years for her to open up to anyone, and she still had issues with it. Alec had spent those nine years still at Manticore, and he had only been out for a year. So it didn't surprise her that he was closing in on himself, burying his feelings and ignoring the pain. It was what they had been trained to do. But that didn't mean she would let him do it. She shrugged. "Suit yourself. But I don't think Biggs would want you to do this to yourself. You don't have to hide how you feel anymore, Alec. You're not at Manticore."

Alec held out for another minute before he sighed heavily and sank to the ground on his knees. He buried his face in his hands and and continued to shake, grieving silently. Max stood in front of him, feeling extremely awkward and out of place. She hadn't expected him to actually open up in front of her, and his reaction scared her. Finally, she knelt beside him and placed a tentative hand on his trembling shoulder. "I'm sorry, Alec. I know nothing I can say will make it better, but...," she hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued. "I'm here for you." Alec didn't say anything, and Max simply remained as she was, trying to reassure him with her presence. A few minutes later Alec sighed and once again wiped away all signs of tears. He glanced at Max quickly before standing up, and she was stunned by the brief flash of gratitude she had seen there.

It was gone quickly, though, and was replaced by his usual smirk. He took off in the direction of Terminal City, and Max followed, knowing the moment had passed. By the time they had slipped through the gates, no sign of Alec's breakdown remained. Max didn't say anything as they filled in the rest of the transgenics on what had happened. She didn't bring it up when Joshua asked her if they were alright. And she didn't mention it to Alec until they were alone again and Alec's carefree expression faltered and slipped away. The pain was still in his eyes, and Max approached him warily. "Are you alright?"

Once again the mask was put into place. "How many times do I have to tell you, Maxie? I'm always alright."

DADADADADADADADA


	2. CO

So… it's been a while. Yeah. No real explanation, but hopefully this makes up for it.

DADADADADADA

Max, OC, Sketchy, Alec, and Biggs sat around a table in Crash, laughing loudly and enjoying the two large pitchers of beer Max had ordered. Alec and Biggs had told a carefully edited story of how they knew each other, saying only that they had worked a few jobs together before Alec moved to Seattle and started working for Jam Pony. Cindy knew the real story and Sketchy knew better than to ask about the details of any of Alec's previous "work," so they left it at that.

Max was thoroughly enjoying their evening of normalcy away from Terminal City. It was refreshing to simply hang out with her friends and not worry about the mounting danger that faced her and the rest of the Transgenics. She never thought she would feel this way, but she almost missed the old days where it was just her, hiding from Manticore. Not her hiding Manticore from the rest of the world.

Max was jerked from her reverie when Alec stood, grabbing the empty pitchers. "I'll go get us some more beer," he announced, heading toward the bar.

Sketchy stood as well, moving in the same direction. "I'll tag along," he said.

A few moments later OC scooted back her chair, saying, "I'm gonna go use the ladies' room. Be right back."

Max suddenly found herself alone with Biggs, who looked as uncomfortable as she felt. She didn't know him well at all, but the fact that he seemed to be so close to Alec made her wary. And if the way the other X-5 looked at her was any indication, he knew very well of Max and Alec's rocky (at best) relationship.

She was contemplating giving an excuse of her own to leave the table when Biggs spoke up. "So, you and 494—" he cut himself off, shaking his head. "You and Alec. How long have you been working together?"

Something about the question made her uneasy, but she answered anyway. "A little less than a year. But 'working together' is a pretty strong term." Biggs frowned, his eyes wandering to Alec, who was currently leaning against the bar talking up some scantily-clad girl. Max huffed. "Unbelievable," she muttered, turning away.

Biggs' frown deepened and he turned his gaze back on her. "Don't you think you're a little too hard on him?" he demanded.

She gaped. Too hard on _Alec_? "Look, I know you like him, but he deserves it. His attitude had nearly gotten people killed before."

"He's not such a bad guy, really. Manticore really messed him up, but considering what all he went through I'd say he turned out alright."

Max snorted. "Manticore messed with everyone. That's no excuse for his attitude."

Biggs' eyes flashed. "You have no idea what it was like after your unit escaped. Things got a lot worse than anything you ever saw."

Max blinked, surprised at the anger in his voice. She remembered Alec saying something like that during the whole thing with Berrisford. "Still, that doesn't excuse his arrogance. You were there as long as he was and you didn't turn out to be a selfish bastard," she snapped.

"_I_ didn't go through Psy-Ops three times," he hissed.

"Three times? He only ever mentioned one…."

"Yeah, well, he's not one to really talk about his past, especially the painful parts." He sighed. "Which one did he mention?"

"After Ben—493—killed all those people. He said they wanted to make sure the insanity wasn't genetic."

"That was the third one," he said. "We all hated them for that. He'd been through more than enough. That was when he really changed." Biggs' eyes were distant as he spoke.

"Who's we?" she asked, her curiosity piqued. Apparently the two X-5s were a lot closer than she had thought.

"Our unit," he said, looking back at her. "He was our CO when we were younger." Max's eyes widened and if she hadn't had so much control over her emotions she was sure her mouth would have fallen open. "He never told you? I guess it really isn't surprising. He never even liked to talk to us about it."

She looked over at Alec again, frowning. _He _was a CO? "You said 'when we were younger.' What happened?"

He looked away, but Max didn't miss t he darkening of his expression. "Your unit happened," he said quietly. "After you all escaped, all the twins were sent to Psy-Ops for six months. Since Alec was a CO, he got the worst of it. They wanted to make sure he wasn't going to lead us in an escape. When he came back, he was so different. He tried to lead us, but he was so terrified of messing up that he could barely function with them around. It wasn't long before they took away his position and sent him back to Basics. When he got back to the unit he was just one of us. They made 437 the CO, and he was good, but he was no 494." His voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat. "He still took care of us, though. He looked out for us on missions and stood up for us against Lydecker and the rest. Eventually they let him lead small teams on missions, and even do some solo ops. Of course, that's what led to Psy-Ops two."

Max's eyes widened. "The Berrisford mission," she said.

Biggs looked at her again. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"He, uh, met up with them again recently. Mr. Berrisford is still alive, and he tried to kill him."

"Damn," Biggs muttered. "He came back from that one totally screwed up. We couldn't believe what they said about him. Alec had _never _botched a mission. _Ever._ Another six months in Psy-Ops and they had him back in line. He didn't go on anymore solo missions, though, and he didn't lead anymore teams. It wasn't until the last time that he stopped caring, though." He ran a hand through his hair as though trying to keep his emotions in check. "They didn't even tell us why they took him that time. He just disappeared, and came back six months later totally defeated. He had always been a team player, but now he only looked out for himself. He acted like he was in control, but he always followed orders, like a zombie. He didn't do missions with the unit after that, and barely ever went on away missions. It wasn't long after that you showed up and burned the place down." A heavy silence stretched between them as Max tried to process what she had just learned about Alec. "So… just take it easy, okay? He had it bad, real bad. No one can blame him for being the way he is."

Max didn't have a chance to reply before their friends got back. Alec placed the pitchers back on the table, taking his chair next to Biggs. "So what did you all talk about while we were gone?" It was asked innocently enough, but Max caught the look in his eyes as he studied the expression on her face.

"Nothing interesting," Biggs said with a smile, and the conversation moved on. But Max couldn't stop staring at Alec or thinking over what she had just learned about him.

DADADADADADA

So this one is pretty much Alec-centric, but it always seemed to me that Alec and Biggs had a lot of history. So… this is my take on it. Thanks for reading!


End file.
